Part 2: Before It's Too Late
by Bigtime Day-Dreamer
Summary: Sequel to Part 1: Here We Go Again. HP x ATLA x Code Lyoko After the revelation that Draco is not actually a Malfoy, he and his siblings must hunt down their real mother. Their search leads them to an entire new world. They come across a brother and sister who are also searching for the same woman. Meanwhile, a new alliance of enemies has formed and puts both worlds into jeopardy.
1. Progress

**_Author's Note: Finally! Part Two has finally begun! You can find the first part on my profile page. It's literally the only other story I've written so it shouldn't be hard to find_ Part One: Here We Go Again.**

 _ **Second, as a reminder, this story is a crossover between Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender,**_ **and _Code Lyoko._**

 _ **Third, since this story takes place after**_ **The Promise _Dark Horse comic series for Avatar: The Last Airbender and during_ The Search _,_** _ **there** **are a few times I borrow quite a bit of dialogue directly from**_ **The Search** ** _, with some modifications to fit the story. If you haven't read any of the Dark Horse comics, please do. They are quite an enjoyable read._**

 ** _Fourth, all fictional characters/locations that are not of my creation belong to their respective owners._**

 _ **Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the second installment of what has been gnawing away at my brain cells for the past 5+ years.**_

 _ **P.S. As far as crossovers go, this may seem kind of out there. But the fact that you, the reader, are willing to give it a chance means more than you could possibly realize. Thanks.**_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1: Progress**_

Sunlight shined down along the German mountainside. The snow glistened and sparkled. The landscape was picturesque and stunningly beautiful. There was a slight breeze that rustled through the needles in the trees. It would have been the perfect spot for a picnic in the summer. A loud _BANG_ resounded across the mountainside, disturbing the peacefulness.

Ulrich raced by a Megatank on the Overbike as the monster charged up again. It turned to fire when a line of large ice spikes rose out of the snow, stabbing the metal monster through the target. Taelia twirled her wrist around, her purple wings glowing vibrantly as she hovered overhead. The spikes rose into the air. Aelita and Draco, their own wings glowing as well, flew by the spikes. They flourished their wands, and the spikes followed them. Aelita flew down to the left where Ron and Neville were struggling against some Tarantulas. She shot her spikes down, impaling and destroying the monsters. Ron and Neville ran forward and jumped down a small cliff to where Luna and Yumi were battling some incessant Krabs. Yumi's fans flew through the air and sliced one of the Krabs in half. She used telekinesis to send the fans into the backs of a couple Hornets that were shooting at Harry and Odd. The wings were sliced off of the Hornets, and Odd used the opportunity to flip over Harry and shoot Laser Arrows in random directions. Harry set them ablaze, increasing their impact radius. A Laser Arrow missed a Hornet and flew into the back of the head of a Kreeper. Ulrich grinned, drew his katanas, sped the Overbike forward, and sliced the remaining Kreepers' heads clean off. He sped around another Megatank as Aelita hovered, holding its beam in place. Triplicating himself, the second Ulrich jumped onto the Megatank and stabbed the target. The third Ulrich tumbled forward on the ground and began kicking Kankrelats into the air. One flew high enough that Draco grabbed it like a Quaffle and threw it back down to the ground. He carried his spikes towards the manufacturing plant that X.A.N.A. had under his control. He spun away, allowing the spikes to continue their forward and downward momentum. The spikes encountered a shield barrier and broke apart.

"Damn!" he shouted, spinning away from the laser fire that began focusing on him. "The barrier is still preventing us from getting into that plant, Jeremie. How close is Ben to bringing it down?"

"Well, to say he encountered resistance would be an understatement," Jeremie replied into his mike. He glanced at what the others had encountered on the Sector 5 replica.

Dozens upon dozens of Kreepers had converged on the group as they approached the tower controlling the barrier. William Super-smoked his way around the room, doing what he could to avoid the fire, tackling Kreepers that were getting too close to Ben, and knocking them into the pit below. Sissi used her cables to create a dome around her and Ben, allowing them to move, albeit slowly, closer to the tower. Ben used limited bursts of the anti-X.A.N.A. program to coat the cables so no monster could touch the dome. Screams of several Flying Manti filled the room as they entered from the pit below. Their mines flew at the dome, their explosions causing it to dismantle. The remaining mines flew towards Ben and Sissi.

" _Depulso_!" Hermione shouted, riding over on the Overwing and dressed in a menacing red and black outfit. The mines flew back into the Manti, instantly destroying them. She spun the vehicle around and raised a Shield Charm around her to block the Kreeper laser fire. Ben sprinted for the tower, somersaulting around the Kreepers firing at him. He entered the tower. Seconds later, the flame on the tower turned blue.

"Barrier should be down now!" Jeremie announced. "Time to send in the big guns, Mr. Clevenger."

"Copy that, Mr. Belpois," Professor Clevenger replied. "Be there in ninety seconds!"

"Sissi, head back to the _Hring_ and start transferring as much data from the supercomputer as you can," George said. He stood next to Jeremie with his own laptop hovering in the air in front of him. "The rest of you, prepare to join the others in Germany."

"Understood," Sissi replied, jumping onto the Overboard that had materialized in front of her.

Harry blasted the remaining Hornets out of the sky, speaking into his earpiece, "Everyone, converge on the plant. Aelita, Draco, Taelia, clear our path from above."

"On it," Aelita replied, charging up her Energy Fields. Draco met up with her as they flew towards the plant. He locked hands with her. When they felt the energy build up enough, they thrust their hands down, shooting pink and green Energy Fields at the ground. When they hit the ground, they became Energy Shockwaves, spreading out in all directions for several meters and destroying any monster within range. As they got closer, the laser fire from the plant increased. Taelia flew in front of the pair, forming an Energy Shield. The laser fire bounced off the shield and ricocheted back at the plant.

Harry, Ron, Luna, and Neville created waves of water out of the snow. They conjured wooden boards for everyone to ride the waves down to the plant. Ulrich raced out in front, katanas drawn. Black smoke appeared around Ulrich when they were approaching the outer wall. William, Hermione, and Sissi solidified through the smoke.

" _Bombarda Maxima!_ " Hermione yelled quickly. The wall exploded into the plant right before the Lyoko Warriors and Dumbledore's Army charged through the opening that was made. Several monsters were caught unawares as they were immediately destroyed.

"Big guns arriving in three, two, one!" Jeremie announced. From overhead, golden mist gleamed from above and landed in the center of the plant. Aelita's black and pink Camaro screeched out of the mist, the Elder Wand flying out of one of the windows. The main difference to Aelita's car was that a rocket launcher/flame thrower had been fitted into the trunk. Seamus's grin gleamed brightly as he doused the nearby monsters in flames. Electricity covered the hood of the car as Ben raced out in specter form. He sped around, knocking down monsters for the others to destroy.

With the laser fire diminishing towards them, Taelia lowered the shield, and Draco and Aelita both sent out spells at the roof of the largest building. The holes formed were large enough for them to fly into the building uninhibited. They landed on the ground and looked around. The sunlight that was streaming in was the only source of light. The lights suddenly all kicked on, revealing lines upon lines of robots surrounding them. The metal suits raised their arms to fire.

Draco grabbed his sisters' hands and spun on his foot, wings still active. The result was completely unexpected. Instead of a simple Disapparition, they turned into glowing green smoke. Draco could still see everything clearly, just with a green tint. He flew around with more agility than just his wings. An explosion broke down one of the nearby walls, and Draco flew out of it. He found a spot to land. He hit the ground with a thud as he, Aelita, and Taelia solidified.

"Blimey!" Ron said to them, helping them to their feet. "It looked like you were flying like Death Eaters just there! Except for the fact that you were bright green. How did you –?" An explosion from the main building cut Ron off as the robots started filing out, arms raised to fire away.

"Robots confirmed, George!" Aelita announced into her earpiece.

"I hear you, Aelita," George replied, typing quickly on his laptop hovering in the air next to Jeremie's terminal. "Minister Shacklebolt, robots _are_ in the plant. The Order of the Phoenix may proceed."

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley," Kingsley said over the phone.

Aelita turned and saw a couple robots running towards Harry, whose back was turned away from them. She ran to him.

"Harry!" she shouted. He turned to look at her as she leaped up and over him. She threw a couple Energy Fields into the robots. They fell to the ground.

"Thanks for that," Harry told her, blasting away a Blok. Aelita turned to smile at him. Behind her, the robots began to clamber back to their feet and raised their arms to shoot at Aelita. "Watch out!" he shouted, pointing at the robots. Suddenly, golden flames exploded out of the chests of the robots and consumed them. The flames became a mist and did not solidify into anything. Harry and Aelita stared at the mist while Harry remained pointing.

"Are you doing that?" Aelita asked.

"I have no idea," Harry replied. He moved his raised arm to the left, and the mist followed. He shared a grin with Aelita and whipped his arm around to some robots fighting Ron and Hermione to their right. The mist flew to the right and solidified into robots. All of the robots crumbled to the ground in pieces.

"Not bad," Aelita replied. Numerous cracks were overheard around the plant. Aurors from the Order of the Phoenix had arrived. The reinforcements ran around, spells flying at the robots. The robots didn't stand a chance and were cut down by the dozen. Aelita nodded to Ulrich to start for the supercomputer. Ulrich drove by Hermione and looped arms around her, pulling her onto the Overbike. He raced through the main building, swerving this way and that as more robots and monsters attempted to intercept them. Ulrich focused on driving while Hermione shielded the both of them.

"Make a sharp right," Jeremie said. "Now!" The Overbike's wheel screeched as Ulrich forced the vehicle right down the narrow hallway the pair of them had entered. The door at the end of the hall flew open just before they crashed into it. Robots stood in a perimeter around the supercomputer, large and rectangular-shaped in the center of the room. Ulrich slid the bike onto the ground as he and Hermione hopped off. Hermione flourished her wand around, forcing the robots out of her way. Ulrich drew his katanas and spun in the air, decapitating some of the robots. Without wasting another second, Ulrich stabbed the top of the supercomputer, and Hermione enveloped the katana in flames. The supercomputer sparked and crackled. As the robots turned, Hermione pointed her wand up at the ceiling and caused it to cave in with red sparks. As the pieces fell, she quickly turned and dismantled the robots. A second later, she and Ulrich were unconscious in the _Hringhorni_ on the replica.

The red sparks flew up into the air over the plant. The virtualized Lyoko Warriors and X.A.N.A.'s monsters vanished, signaling for the wizards and witches in the battle to turn their wands on the buildings of the plant. Spells barraged the walls, bringing the buildings down with loud crashes and fiery explosions. The Elder Wand, now atop Aelita's car, began ominously glowing with a reddish gold hue.

"Time to go," Harry said quickly, grabbing Aelita by the waist. They shared a look while the others began to leave.

Aelita bit her lip, asking, "Can we watch what happens next?" Harry rolled his eyes and nodded with a smirk. They Disapparated to the top of the cliff and watched the burning manufacturing plant. The reddish-gold color became brighter as the rest of the Order left. The light flashed once before an invisible shockwave leveled the entire manufacturing plant, leaving nothing but small pieces behind and Aelita's undamaged car at the center of it all. The pair felt the wind from the shockwave blow past them, rustling the snow on the ground. When the noise died down, the mountainside resumed its beautiful tranquility.

"Now that is what I like to call leaving the party on a high note," Harry said with a smile. Aelita laughed before they Disapparated back to the factory.

* * *

"Second facility in a week, fellas!" Odd announced triumphantly as he and the rest of the Warriors walked out of the elevator. "And fourth one overall! I'll drink some butterbeer to that!" Several cheers of agreement came from the Order that had all gathered there as well. Harry grinned at the sight, watching Hermione and Ron hug each other tightly. Hearing a loud engine roar, he turned to see Clevenger drive up in the Camaro. The young man practically jumped out of the car with a smile from ear to ear plastered on his face. He shook Harry's hand.

"I have to admit, Harry," Clevenger said, losing his professor persona for the moment. "Aelita's car is one sweet ride. I'll have to ask her if she'll let me drive it more often. Oh, which reminds me." He withdrew the Elder Wand from his pocket. "I do appreciate your trusting of me with this." Harry, feeling the wand recognize him, held out his hand while the wand flew into it. A tingle originated where the wand sat on his palm, almost as if the wand was content when being back with Harry. It was a strange feeling, but Harry had grown accustomed to the strangeness that was the Elder Wand.

"The agreement is always the same each time," Harry told him. "Just as long as you bring it back in one piece. Maybe I'll try to convince Jeremie and Ben to continue working on a feature for teleporting that car so you don't have to use the Elder Wand anymore. Although…" Harry drifted off and pulled Clevenger aside. "While we were there, I had noticed that I had managed to do some wandless magic. The kind I have neither witnessed nor heard of."

"What was it exactly?"

"Well, the best way I could describe it is that it was identical to the Elder Wand's ability to teleport itself and any attached objects or persons. Same golden mist and everything."

"Interesting," Clevenger mumbled, stroking his chin in thought. "Perhaps that would be something you and I could explore further before you leave for the Christmas break, Mr. Potter."

"I would be more than happy to, Professor," Harry responded eagerly. He glanced back at the party down below. "I think they've broken out the butterbeer down there."

"That I have no doubt. Just as much as I have no doubt that there is a bottle down there with my name on it. If you'll excuse me, Mr. Potter." With that Clevenger joined the festivities. Harry sighed and glanced at Jeremie and Aelita. Watching them walk into the elevator with Kingsley Shacklebolt and Minister Sporln, Harry knew that a bottle for him was not down there just yet.

As he walked down to the elevator, Harry thought about what had transpired in the last month. A couple weeks after discovering Draco's true identity as Draco Schaeffer, the middle child between Aelita and Taelia, the Lyoko Warriors as they called themselves located another one of X.A.N.A.'s replicas of the digital world in their supercomputer. Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione, and George watched with eager fascination as Aelita and her friends destroyed the replica and the supercomputer. However, they realized that this supercomputer, located on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, was housed in a manufacturing plant similar to the one destroyed today. There were numerous robots in the plant and simply destroying the supercomputer did not shut off the robots. The five who hadn't been "virtualized" went to the plant and effectively destroyed it…after an hour of fighting the robots.

Together, they all realized that in order to have an effect against X.A.N.A., they needed to take out the various plants and facilities that the virus controlled. Destroying those facilities was not easy with the firepower that they had. So, Hermione, Ben, and Jeremie agreed on further upgrades. One simple, at least that's what Jeremie described it as, upgrade was to allow the vehicles that Jeremie could create on Lyoko – the Overwing, the Overboard, and the Overbike – to be materialized into the physical world as needed. Another simple upgrade was to have Hermione be virtualized onto Lyoko so that she could add the use of magic within the digital world. Plus, it was noted that the Lyoko supercomputer reacted very positively with the use of magic, enhancing and even creating more power for the supercomputer to use.

One upgrade that proved to be more challenging and difficult was the use of Aelita's car in the field. The need for it came when they realized that transferring origins of vehicles was not a possibility so the materialized vehicles would vanish as soon as the supercomputer was destroyed. But with a facility still needing to be destroyed, having a vehicle would be beneficial. Thus the idea to use Aelita's Camaro was born. Using the factory's machinery, Ben, William, Ulrich, George, and Jeremie began adding to the car. The most notable was the addition of a rocket launcher and flamethrower inside the trunk. The car's frame was then reinforced with electromagnetic steel, preventing any monsters, specters, or robots from touching the car when activated. The electromagnets also curiously countered the effects of the lasers shot at the car, making it practically invincible against X.A.N.A.'s forces. Ben placed a small supercomputer inside the engine of the car. Inside the Minicomputer, as Jeremie called it, Ben created a small replica of Lyoko, one with only a single tower on a platform. When the car was on, the replica would be online, and Ben could enter the replica via the _Skidbladnir_ to access the tower and exist in the physical world wherever the car was. If the situation were to become a disaster, the car had a safety mechanism: a rechargeable EMP bomb to disable anything electronic near the car, including the virtualized specters of the group. The car had essentially become a small tank.

Unfortunately, X.A.N.A. was not taking the losses lightly. After the second destruction of one of his facilities, he immediately removed all public records of the locations of the other facilities around the globe, making the only way to locate other facilities was through the replicas. He began activating towers and launching attacks on civilian populations in order to slow the progress down. What he hadn't been counting on were the Aurors from the French and British Ministries of Magic intervening whenever he tried. They protected innocent lives, prevented popular tourist spots in Paris from being destroyed, and essentially stopped him at about every turn. When the attacks began to get a little too out of hand, Aelita, Taelia, or even Draco would go to the factory and deactivate the tower or towers on Lyoko. The only downsides were that they still couldn't locate the central facility of X.A.N.A.'s Muggle company operations, that the company had become a contractor for the United States Muggle military, and the United States Magical Congress was still not convinced that the company was evil at its core. The last downside had begun creating unnecessary tensions in the world of magical politics, but Kingsley Shacklebolt insisted that it was of no concern.

The elevator doors opened to the lab, and Harry entered. Aelita, Draco, Taelia, Jeremie, and the two Ministers of Magic had been waiting for him to join them. The doors closed behind them, and silence filled the room for the moment.

Sporln spoke up first, "I think I can say without a doubt in my mind that your dealings against X.A.N.A. have been rather successful."

"I have to agree with you, Minister," Jeremie said. "I think I speak for all of my team when I say that we were absolutely convinced that X.A.N.A. would begin causing more troubles for us."

"If it weren't for the work of your Aurors, X.A.N.A.'s attacks would certainly have caused us to turn back from the replica and take care of the towers," Aelita added. "I'll admit it. I was wrong. Our alliance has actually proven fruitful; 100% opposite of what I thought was going to happen."

"Now that we have established ourselves on the front-lines of this fight," Shacklebolt commented. "We need to have a goal in mind. Obviously finding and eliminating the remains of his company is a goal. But he is still building. He has other goals in mind, and we need to determine what those are and how we intend on combatting them."

"With each facility we retrieve data from, we get closer and closer to discovering the location of the company headquarters," Jeremie added. "Of course it would be a little easier if the Americans would just tell us."

"They aren't convinced that the company is wrong," Sporln interjected, evidently irritated with Jeremie's tone. "They have met with the company's board and have no reason to suspect foul play. It could be that X.A.N.A. has managed to convince some people to work in the company, _without_ possessing them and _without_ alerting them to the company's true intents and purposes. Do not insult our allies, Mr. Belpois. While Minister Shacklebolt and myself have easily accepted and understood everything that is happening here, the rest of the World Confederation of Magical Ministries is not so quick in doing so by no fault of their own.

"With that said, the Supreme Mugwump, the head of the Confederation, has expressed her wishes to observe the next raid on one of X.A.N.A.'s facility either from here or on location. She believes it best that, in order for her to be able to successfully convince the rest of the Confederation, she would need to observe firsthand what X.A.N.A. has built."

"What exactly does that mean?" Taelia asked curiously.

"It means that the facility cannot be destroyed at the end of the next raid," Kingsley answered.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Draco asked concerned.

"I think it's a great idea," Aelita added. "We'd be able to more easily examine what X.A.N.A. was doing. Before, our focus has been 'Destroy it. It doesn't matter _why_ he's using just that he _is_ using it.' Now that we've established that we can destroy his facilities, we can focus on why he needs them in the first place."

"Then we are agreed," Jeremie replied. "As soon as we find the next replica, we will let you know."

"Very well," Kingsley said. "We will go let her know. But be mindful of the fact that she may want to visit the factory before then." With that, Kingsley and Sporln left the lab. The others waited until the elevator doors closed before moving towards the terminal. Despite aid provided from governments, Aelita and Jeremie still wanted to keep some things to themselves. Harry, recalling his years of distrust of the Ministry, understood the sentiment completely.

"Time to take a look at that picture of your mom," Ben said, appearing in the holosphere system. "By the way, I looked at the data recovered from today. Nothing worth our while, sadly." The picture of Aelita's mother appeared in the holosphere next to Ben. "To eliminate discussing some of the more obvious parts of the photo, we can already see that this was taken when Anthea was young, possibly before any of you were born. We know that the word _Scipio_ relates to Carthage and Lyoko. Why that word in particular is still unknown. Now comes the interesting part." The photo zoomed in on the word. "As you noticed before, the letters are all written with seemingly random numbers."

"Seemingly?" Harry asked.

"At first, yes, seemingly," Ben replied. "But upon further investigation, I noticed that if I were to take every sixteenth number starting from the top line, the numbers would start to repeat." The appropriate numbers started to glow orange as opposed to the rest of the black numbers. "The series of numbers that repeat are 1413927103946364."

"What's the significance of that?" Draco inquired.

"At first, I hadn't a clue. But then I remembered Aelita's initial theory of coordinates," Ben answered with a slight smile. "If that were true, then there would need to be a second number, which doesn't repeat like this series of numbers. But if I were to split the series in two, then a potential list of coordinates could exist. Then I noticed that in the first iteration of the series, there is a period after the very first 1 and after the second 3."

"So that means it's a decimal point," Taelia suggested.

"My thoughts exactly," Ben agreed. "And that gives us a good pair of coordinates: 1.413927, 103.946364." Jeremie began typing quickly.

"Which are the coordinates to the northern shoreline of a lake on Pulau Ubin, an island in Singapore," he replied.

There was a moment of silent contemplation. Then Taelia asked excitedly. "Didn't Yumi find one of my father's journals mentioning something about a trip to Singapore?"

"Yeah, she did," Aelita replied. "That can't be a coincidence. So that means our mother is there!"

"Not so fast," Ben warned. He pulled up a satellite image of the island. "There appears to be a large structure on that island already. After doing some digging, I found that the building is owned by, guess who?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Draco complained.

"The same company that seems to be making deliveries on X.A.N.A.'s behalf," Harry answered. "Is there a replica there?"

"No, there isn't," Ben said. "There also have been zero of the company's shipments going to this location."

"None?" Jeremie asked, surprised.

"None," Ben repeated. "It's as if they are off the grid from the rest of the company. So without definitive proof that X.A.N.A. is control of all of the company's assets, it will be almost impossible to go to this facility without creating some sort of international incident."

"And we can't afford any of those," Taelia grumbled. She looked at Jeremie. "What are your thoughts?"

He sighed. "The coincidences are too great. Whether these coordinates lead to your mother or not, it's obvious that they meant something of importance to your father. We'll need to do some more digging before we even remotely consider attempting going to that building, whatever it is. Sorry, you three, but I think your mother will have to wait." There was a heavy moment of silence as the six of them absorbed the presented information.

Harry glanced at his watch and said, "Well, us Hogwarts people need to get back soon." He looked to Aelita and Draco, who nodded their agreement.

"Alright," Jeremie said, standing up. "Ben, keep analyzing the data you found. We will look around the Hermitage for that journal again, and we'll contact you if we find anything. Aelita?" Aelita looked at him. "We'll get there, eventually. As long as X.A.N.A. isn't aware of the importance of that location to your father, whatever he was interested in is safe for the time being." Aelita nodded solemnly before walking into the elevator.

* * *

Minutes later, the Hogwarts students and Professor Clevenger Apparated into Hogsmeade. Seamus excitedly began telling Ron and Luna about using the rocket launcher and the flamethrower on the Camaro. Neville and Professor Clevenger talked about the various monsters they faced and their strengths and weaknesses. Hermione began asking Draco more in-depth questions about his smoky apparition ability that had surfaced during the battle. That left Aelita and Harry standing in silence while the others walked away.

"So how are you holding up with all of this?" Harry asked her. He knew that this much outside involvement was not easy for her to handle, despite her reassurances to the Ministers of Magic.

"I'm fine," she said as jovially as she could muster. "It's like Ben said: there's too much to be left to chance to go that location in Singapore. It would be nice to, but the risks of going outweigh the benefits, which at this point are completely unknown." She took a deep breath. "But as far as the rest, it's like I said earlier, it _is_ nice having all of this help. We have X.A.N.A. on the defensive more than the offensive, which is always a good thing. I have to admit that Dumbledore's Army is really good in a fight. You should be proud of them."

"I think they got better under Neville's guidance more than mine," Harry admitted.

"And where did Neville learn his stuff, huh? Oh yeah, that's right, you taught him." Aelita gave him a pointed look and a nudge. "It's okay to be proud of yourself, you know."

"But if it weren't for me –" Harry began.

"Then, they would've certainly died in the battle last May!" Aelita interrupted. "And don't forget that agreement we made: No blaming ourselves anymore! If you won't, then I won't." She smiled at him. He smiled back appreciatively. They walked silently for a moment, listening to the crunching of snow underneath their feet.

"So the holidays are coming up soon," Harry said. "Do you have any plans?"

"Not really," Aelita replied, shrugging. "I usually spend Christmas on my own. Granted, that was before I remembered I had a brother and sister."

"Have you discussed the idea of talking to the Malfoy's about your discovery with your siblings, since you brought that up?"

"Not really. I mean the idea has definitely come up. We just don't know how to approach the subject."

"May I offer up a suggestion?" Harry asked. Aelita gave him a stern look, indicating that he really shouldn't. "Never mind."

"Obviously it's something we'll have to deal with over the break, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there," she said. "Just keep your advice to yourself for now, Harry. No offense, but you don't exactly have experience with this kind of thing."

"You're not wrong," he replied quietly. "Anyway, you and your siblings are more than welcome to join us at the Burrow." Aelita gave him a look, giving away her nervousness. "The Weasley's blame you for Ginny as much as they blame me for Fred: not at all. And I have it directly from the source that Mrs. Weasley wants you to have an incredible Christmas with your family. Whether that is a good thing has yet to be determined." Aelita laughed. A quiet thought crept into his mind while he pictured the Burrow at Christmas; a thought about a particular stone lying on the floor of the Forbidden Forest. He could just go find it. He could talk to Ginny, Sirius, Remus, his parents, as if they never left. Harry's stomach knotted up. But he knew that he shouldn't do it, that he couldn't do it. It wouldn't be the same. He wouldn't be able to hold them again. Aelita must have managed to read his thoughts somehow. She grabbed his hand tightly and affectionately.

"Thanks," he told her softly, already feeling a little better as they approached the gates to Hogwarts.

Later that night, Aelita had one of the most vivid dreams she had ever had:

 _A young woman with long dark hair sat in what could only be described as a carriage. The other occupants in the carriage were two men. The elder one had long gray hair and a long beard, and the younger one had long, flowing black hair and a short beard from his chin. They all wore different shades of red attire. The woman had simpler clothes on when compared to the men, who seemed to have some sort of regal affiliation with fire. The carriage rocked as it moved through a quiet town._

 _The old man spoke, "Dear girl, after growing up in this backwater village, you will especially appreciate the capital city's comforts. I'm sure Fire Prince Ozai will be more than happy to – "_

 _Suddenly a young man's voice called out from outside the carriage, "Ursa! Ursa!" The carriage came to a sudden stop. Outside, there was a man holding fake swords standing in front of the carriage._

 _"_ _What's going on?!" the gray-haired man asked a soldier dressed in red, medieval armor._

 _"_ _A commoner's in the middle of the road, blocking our way!" the soldier replied._

 _The young man spoke loudly, albeit nervously, to the occupants of the carriage, "F-F-Fire Lord, Azulon! You have my-my true love in your carriage! With all due respect, I c-can't let you take her from me!" The man trembled with fear but stood resolutely. The soldiers around the carriage laughed and mocked him._

 _"_ _Take care of him," the elder man inside the carriage who must be Fire Lord Azulon said to the nearby soldier. The soldiers converged on the man._

 _"_ _Wait, please," the woman begged, turning to the man next to her, Fire Prince Ozai. "He's an old childhood friend of mine! He's-he's confused! I'll get him to leave, but, Ozai, you have to promise not to hurt him. Please, for me, my…my love."_

 _Ozai quickly leaned out of the carriage and said, "That's enough." He moved to the side to allow the woman to exit the carriage._

 _"_ _Ikem," she said to the young man. "Go home."_

 _"_ _Ursa," Ikem retorted in a pleading voice. "We_ belong _together. Whatever they're offering you, it isn't worth the pain of never again_ belonging _."_

 _"_ _The decision's been made," Ursa replied, not wanting to look at him. "Nothing can change that."_

 _"_ _Tell me marrying that – that_ prince _is what you truly want, that it is better than what I have shown you. Please, Ursa, don't make the five of us go home without you."_

 _Ursa looked at him, pain leaving her face just for a moment. "The_ five _of you?!" she asked. Ikem nodded. Her eyes turned to the carriage and then back to her parents standing in front of their house. She looked back to the carriage, and her eyes focused on a figure standing on a roof on the other side of the carriage. The figure's long, straight black hair blew in the breeze. She then locked eyes with Ozai. He gave her a peculiar expression while her expression hardened._

 _"_ _Waldo," she said to the young man, not taking her eyes off of Ozai. "Get us out of here." Ozai appeared surprised while Azulon was livid._

 _"_ _You're going to the capital with us!" he yelled at her. "Your parents and your 'childhood friend' will pay the price for your defiance and refusal to obey your Fire Lord!" The two soldiers closest to her parents turned to face them, spears raised. Her parents cowered in fear as the soldiers converged on them. There was a loud_ crack _as a young woman with curly black hair Apparated between them and the soldiers. She raised her wand, and blasted the two soldiers off their feet. Around the carriage, there were many more_ cracks _. A woman with bushy blonde hair, a woman with straight black hair, and a man with straight blond hair stood with their wands raised at the carriage. Ursa turned and stood behind Waldo as Ozai practically leaped out of the carriage, eager for a fight._

 _"_ _Your sticks are no match for us," Ozai growled._

 _"_ _Wanna bet,_ Prince _," Waldo countered with extra spite on the last word and drew his own wand, significantly more confident than before. The five witches and wizards twirled their wands. With simple flashes of red, the swords and spears in the soldiers' hands flew into the air and behind each witch or wizard. Ozai punched at Waldo, a column of fire spewing out of his fist. Waldo twirled his wand in the air, making a wall of fire to block the column._

 _"_ Stupefy! _" he shouted, pointing his wand through the fire. The spell knocked Ozai to the ground, unconscious. Azulon was furious but dared not leave the carriage. He knew when he didn't have the upper hand. The soldiers remained completely still, unsure whether or not to follow their prince's lead._

 _"_ _Like I said, Fire Lord," Waldo said, grabbing Ursa's waist. He nodded to the curly-haired witch, who grabbed both of Ursa's very frightened parents. "I can't let you take her. Oh, and tell your son when he wakes up that I quit Project Carthage." With that, he and the four others turned on their heels and Disapparated from the town."_

Aelita woke with a start, sweating profusely and breathing heavily. She sat up in bed. She thought about what she had just seen. There were a lot of names thrown around that she didn't recognize but the two she did obviously stuck out the most: Waldo and Ursa. She must have seen her parents. But it didn't make any sense. Ursa had no red hair. Waldo _did_ look a little bit like Draco. There was no trace of technology of any kind, at least nothing with electricity. The soldiers' armors were very medieval with possible Asian influence. But maybe it was some kind of wizarding town that, like Hogsmeade, had no electronic equipment. After all, that "Fire Prince Ozai" was able to create fire with his bare hands. But he called the wands sticks, so maybe it was an old-fashioned town? Aelita hadn't a clue. It was certainly a peculiar dream, but she had never had one quite so vivid. The only thing she knew for certain was that she had that dream for a reason and that she had to tell Taelia and Draco about it soon.

* * *

 _A relatively small house was nestled in the middle of a forest on a snowy mountainside. There was no identifiable insignia on the building to determine which nation it belonged to. Nonetheless, outside the building were three people. A young girl with strangely pink hair was playing in the snow while her parents watched from afar._

 _The girl laughed and shouted, "Look at my giant snowball, Mommy!"_

 _"_ _Stay near the house, darling!" the red-haired woman called back to her._

 _"_ _Well done, my angel!" the graying father praised her, his wife holding onto his arm affectionately. The little girl laughed again while her parents chuckled as their daughter played._

 _Suddenly, a howl echoed around the snowy clearing, and a wolf emerged from the trees near the little girl. Interesting looking vehicles pulled up to the house, and men dressed in only black attire got out. The vehicle doors slammed shut with a bang._

 _"_ _Anthea, get Aelita!" the father said before turning to run to the house. "I'll get the other two!"_

 _Inside the house, the men were swarming the building, tossing over tables and chairs in their wake. Crying could be heard from one of the upstairs bedrooms. Two of the men ran up to the door of said bedroom and swung it open. A baby girl lay in her crib crying while her black-haired toddler brother tried to shush her. He froze in fear when the door opened._

 _"_ _Stawp it!" the boy shouted bravely. "You're scawring her!"_

 _"_ _Take his children!" a familiar voice called out from the lower floor. The two men approached the crib too quickly for the toddler's liking._

 _"_ _NO!" the boy screamed. Green flames erupted from his pudgy hands and struck the two unprepared men. The green fire knocked them to the ground, but only momentarily. They stood up again, but only to find a figure with dark hair standing between them and the children._

 _"_ _You heard the kid," the figure snarled. "No!" Swords were drawn from the men's coats. The figure raised his palms and lightning shot straight out of them. The lightning engulfed the two men, immobilizing them. The figure sped forward, faster than any human, and punched them both in the gut. They flew out of the room. The two men fell through the back wall and down onto the first floor below where the father was dueling against an imposing man, Fire Prince Ozai himself._

 _"_ _You thought you could hide her from me?!" Ozai cackled, shooting a bolt of lightning at the father. He successfully dodged it, formed a ball of pinkish blue electricity in his hand, and threw it at Ozai. Ozai sidestepped the ball, causing it to hit one of the other black-dressed soldiers._

 _"_ _Mark my words Franz Hopper," Ozai snarled again. "Today you will finally pay for your treason against the Fire Nation and Project Carnage." He charged lightning once again. There was a blur, and the figure from the bedroom grabbed Ozai's fingers, absorbing the lightning._

 _"_ _It's 'Project_ Carthage _', you pathetic excuse for a man!" the figure corrected Ozai sarcastically. The lightning traveled across the figure's body and convened at his free hand. The lightning field that erupted from the figure's open palm hit Ozai square in the chest, knocking him through one of the glass windows._

 _"_ _X.A.N.A.," Franz Hopper said. "Get back to Anthea and Aelita!" X.A.N.A. nodded and then his eyes widened in fear._

 _"_ _Both of us need to go,_ now _," he said, vanishing. But it was already too late. The little girl had fallen on the ground, crying. She kept screaming "Mommy!" and pointing at the trees where one of the vehicles had just disappeared. One of the men moved to take her, but the wolf intervened. The animal jumped, biting the man's hand clean off while electrocuting him at the same time. Franz ran up to his daughter, who now lay in the snow whimpering. The vehicles up at the house drove quickly away._

 _"_ _It was all a distraction," Franz muttered, clutching his daughter tightly. "They got her. They got Anthea."_

Fire Lord Zuko opened his eyes, tears rolling down his face. He quickly went to his private washroom and splashed some water onto his face. He sat back down on the foot of his bed, thinking about the dream he just had. The name Franz Hopper had appeared in his dreams again. What could it possibly mean? Azula had said weeks ago that she was going to ask their imprisoned father about it, but he had yet to learn if she had fulfilled his request of her. And the Anthea woman, save for her red hair, had some resemblance to his own mother. The little boy bent _green_ fire. The only person he knows of that can bend a different color fire is Azula. Was there a connection with that? A small voice in the back of his mind asked a more unnerving question: Was the stress of being the leader of the Fire Nation slowly driving him insane like it had with his sister? It was an unnerving thought that prevented him from falling asleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

X.A.N.A. sat upon the cliff ledge, gazing down at what little remained of his factory in silent contemplation. Yaxley stood beside him. Yaxley was frowning. X.A.N.A. was not.

"Sir?" Yaxley began. X.A.N.A. nodded, giving him silent permission to speak freely. "No disrespect intended with this question, but when exactly are you going to do more to stop them from destroying your army?"

"I'm keeping them busy and giving them a false sense of security," X.A.N.A. explained coolly. "The larger their egos, the greater their mistakes. It's already paying off. They barely recognized that the majority of my army residing there were actually specters. There were maybe twenty of the suits that I had already deemed to be faulty prototypes. I'm using those annoyances as my beta testers as it were." Yaxley raised an eyebrow in confusion, but X.A.N.A. shook it off. "My army currently has weaknesses against magic, weaknesses that made me realize why I need your assistance. My army can handle the Muggles while you handle the magic. The more facilities I allow them to discover, the more practice and refinement I get against them. In the meantime, however, they need to be distracted while we proceed with our plans. Plus, this isn't exactly a setback. Are you aware of where we are?"

"Yes, I am," Yaxley replied.

"Did it seem to you, while watching the attack transpire, that _they_ were aware of it?" X.A.N.A. asked.

"No, I don't believe so," Yaxley answered. He paused and then he smiled. "Which would mean that they won't have a reason to be continuing to monitor the area with the factory gone."

"Precisely," X.A.N.A. said, smiling for the first time during their conversation. "Is everyone in position?"

"They are," Yaxley reported. He also smiled.

"Yaxley, I don't have a problem with _you_ questioning my methods," X.A.N.A. turned away from the bare mountainside. "We need to remain on the same page for this, shall we say, collaboration to work." He glanced up at the dark grey sky. "Just don't make a habit of it." With that, the pair of them vanished from sight.

Seconds later, a large cargo plane flew overhead. It kept flying towards another mountainside nearly a mile away and out of sight from the destroyed factory. As it approached the huge, towering black building perched against the rocky cliffside, the cargo bay doors opened. X.A.N.A.'s robots jumped out as the plane flew directly overhead. The robots landed on top of and around the building. The plane swooped around and began to make another pass towards the building, this time at a lower altitude. It was on a collision course for the enormous structure. By this point, the robots had already started firing at the guards. Some of the guards turned to face the plane and prepared to stop it. The plane suddenly exploded merely fifty feet from the building. Flames and hot metal crashed into the building, creating several dozen holes in the front face of the building. The building's stone entrance that read, " _For the Greater Good_ " collapsed underneath the weight of the plane's fuselage. Any Aurors and guards that weren't injured or killed by the plane were overwhelmed and cut down by X.A.N.A.'s robots. Yaxley and numerous Death Eaters stepped over the collapsed entrance. They smiled upon the damaged building.

"Time to liberate our colleagues," Yaxley said. The Death Eater entourage walked towards the massive building. Hardly thirty minutes later, all of the Death Eaters that had been captured in Europe were gone, leaving nothing but dead bodies, hot metal, and a damaged and burning Nurmengard Prison amongst the falling snow.


	2. An Act of Revenge

_**Chapter 2: An Act of Revenge**_

The following day, Harry met with Professor Clevenger to train and fine tune his sudden new ability. Aelita and Draco were already there for another reason. Draco was still having difficulties controlling his new abilities that he had inherited. He had yet to be able to do something with the Creation power that Aelita and Taelia both shared. But Harry couldn't really focus much on those two at the moment. Clevenger immediately started hurling balls at him the moment Harry had set his wand down.

"Whoa!" Harry shouted, ducking out of the way. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get you to do that new power of yours," Clevenger said with a grin. He seemed to be more full of energy than Harry had ever seen from the young man. "But clearly the Quidditch player in you knows to get out of the way when a ball is barreling towards your face so I need a new tactic." He added that part a little disappointedly.

"I would agree with that," Harry said, although he was still nervous about what else Clevenger had planned for him. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor stared at Harry for a moment, scratching his chin.

"I want you to stand over here, facing that table," Clevenger finally said. He pointed to a red and yellow striped table with a single porcelain vase sitting against the far wall. Harry did as instructed. "I want you to try to move that vase to the right one stripe."

"How do I do that?"

"I'm not sure," Clevenger admitted and shrugged. "I didn't see you do it. That is why I asked Aelita to be present since she had. Aelita, when you have a moment." Aelita walked over, taking a break from training Draco. Clevenger turned back to Harry. "Now, _my_ first suggestion would be to focus on exactly what you want to have happen in your mind, then reach out and make it happen." Harry incredulously closed his eyes and thought about the vase.

"Stop," Aelita said. Harry opened his eyes and looked at her. "When you used your – I don't know what to call it – your golden teleportation power you didn't close your eyes and, correct me if I'm wrong, you did not try to make the robot disappear. Am I hitting the nail on the head so far?" Harry nodded. "Okay. Think back to that moment right before it happened. Try to remember what you were thinking of. But try not to close your eyes. Keep them on me."

Harry stared at her, trying to think about what was happening immediately before he made the robot fly around. Aelita had been near him, and perhaps she didn't see it?

"Er…fear, I guess?" Harry said hesitantly.

"You sound unsure."

"Fear and concern for your safety," he said pointedly. "I didn't want the robot to hurt you."

"Aw, how sweet!" Draco said jokingly from across the room. Aelita lowered her eyebrows, at first appearing to ignore what her brother/former boyfriend said. Then, without warning, snow seemed to conglomerate around Aelita's hand. She threw it in Draco's direction. She ignored his "Hey!" when it struck him in the head. Draco looked at Clevenger for support. Clevenger covered his smirk with his hand.

"Imagine then that the vase is hurting me," Aelita said, turning her attention back to Harry. "Direct some concern for my safety at the vase and stop it from hurting me."

Harry couldn't help but think about how absurd that thought was. He tried anyway. Looking at the vase, he imagined that it was somehow hurting Aelita. Not really believing his own mind, he raised his hand and tried to make it move. But nothing happened. Harry looked to Aelita in frustration, nearly ready to give up even after such a short amount of time trying. From out of the corner of his eye, a large and heavy ball suddenly flew towards Aelita's head.

He shouted "Incoming!" and pointed at the ball. To his surprise, golden fire consumed the ball and before turning to mist.

"Don't move a muscle!" Aelita said quickly without turning around. "Keep your eyes on the mist. You had a desire to stop the ball, yes?" Harry nodded.

"Take that same desire you have right now and turn it to the vase," Professor Clevenger spoke up. Harry began staring down the vase, not lowering his right hand from the misty ball. He raised his left hand towards the vase, picturing the vase from not hurting anyone. He did not question the idea this time.

"I want to stop it," Harry thought himself, beginning to believe it. A glint of golden light reflected off of the surface of the vase, but Harry didn't pause to think about it. "I want to stop it. I want to stop it." A golden flame appeared in the middle of the vase. "I want to stop it. I want to stop it." The flame began growing larger around the vase. "I want to stop it. I want to, no, I _need_ to stop it." The flame consumed the vase, and both the vase and the flame turned to mist. Harry slowly moved his left hand to the right and the mist followed. When it moved a whole stripe to the right, Harry stopped and dropped both hands. The mist faded, and the vase solidified on the table. Harry heard the ball hit the ground with a slight _thud_.

"Well done, Mr. Potter," Clevenger said as he clapped Harry on the back, making him jump. "Now that we've figured out what causes it, we can focus on fine-tuning it." Clevenger walked away, twirling his wand around. The various items in the classroom rearranged themselves.

"Nice job!" Aelita congratulated him. "Hopefully, you can get it to a point where you don't have to think about it so much." Harry smiled lightly at the prospect. She picked up on it. "What's wrong? I thought you'd be excited to be able to figure this out."

"It's just that I've never been able to do anything remotely similar to that before now," Harry told her. "Why can I do it now when before, whenever I was concerned about someone, I couldn't do it?"

"Has this never _ever_ happened before?" Aelita questioned. Harry could tell it was a loaded one.

"Unless you know something I don't," he answered.

"Hermione told me about you had gone against Voldemort a year ago when leaving your aunt and uncle's house," Aelita explained. "She said that you must have imagined your wand acting on its own."

Harry frowned. "I didn't imagine it," he said. "My wand _did_ act on its own accord. And I figured that out. Because Voldemort's wand and my wand had connected through _Priori Incantatem_ before, my wand sort of recognized Voldemort and did what it could to protect me."

"And what exactly did your wand's spell look like and what did it do?"

"Like," Harry paused, eyes widening in recognition at Aelita was getting at. "Like golden flames. It overpowered whatever spell Voldemort used and shattered the wand he was using."

"While I don't doubt the reason why your wand acted on its own, I do think you had a little bit of assistance with it. That kind of magic had to come from somewhere. Plus, I'm sure you were wanting to stop Voldemort from hurting you."

"I did, but the connection I had with Voldemort's mind made it nearly impossible for me to do anything about it. Voldemort had overloaded my senses. I was essentially incapacitated."

"And your wand, not only recognized Voldemort, but also could sense your power building. In a way, I suppose it helped you direct your power. And clearly it is stronger than a spell that even Voldemort could use. That should tell you something. The reason _why_ you can do it is another question entirely that I haven't come up with an explanation for yet. But I'm sure you aren't the first wizard to be able to use powerful wandless magic."

"Why do you think that?" Harry asked as she walked away towards her brother at the other end of the classroom. Without turning her head, she created an Energy Field in the palm of her hand and threw it at Draco. Draco caught it in his hands, and it turned green. Harry smiled, chuckling at himself for forgetting that detail.

* * *

"Now if only _I_ could have a breakthrough like him," Draco complained an hour later to Aelita as they made their way to his personal dormitory.

"You'll get it eventually," Aelita said. "I didn't even know I had it for some time before I could use it successfully. And sometimes what I want to appear isn't always what actually appears, even now. Another thought is that you can't create everything like I can." She concentrated on her palm. A small rock grew out of thin air, completely spherical but no larger than Aelita's thumb. "Taelia seemingly can't make rocks. She can make ice and move it around. Maybe there is some material that only you can create out of thin air. Plus, I'm sure Taelia would love to give you some pointers, since she is newer at it than I am."

"That reminds me," Draco said, stopping and pulling over to the side of the corridor. "What are you doing over Christmas break?"

"I…I don't know," Aelita answered, surprised by the question. She put the stone in her pocket. "The three of us, you included, have been invited to join the Weasley's for Christmas. But I'm unsure of whether or not I actually want to go. Why do you ask?"

"Because my parents, er," Draco stuttered.

"Don't call them the Malfoy's," Aelita quickly interrupted. "They were your parents for most of your life, regardless of the fact that they weren't your biological parents. You understand?" Draco nodded. "Good. Now, continue."

"My parents are expecting me to come home," he said quietly. "I'm obviously going to have to talk to them about all of this. But I really don't want to have that conversation with them by myself. Could you be there when it finally happens?"

"Absolutely!" Aelita replied enthusiastically. "And Taelia should be there too. We've got your back, Draco."

"I don't know if this is going to be as exciting as you think, Aelita," Draco warned. "When they saw you and Taelia at Ginny's funeral, they became extremely tense. My mother didn't even look at me for the rest of the day. I can't explain their behavior, and I don't like it." Aelita thought for a reason of their behavior.

"Well, I have one idea," she said slowly. "It's probably guilt. They made you into a Death Eater, the very thing our father would absolutely detest. And as much as I want to get angry at them about it, I have to remind myself that there was no other choice for them. Mr. Malfoy was in Azkaban, and Voldemort was turning to your mother with the demand that you were to do a task that even _he_ knew you weren't capable of." Draco looked at the ground, eyes closed. Aelita drew him into a tight hug. "Dad would have been _proud_ of you that night, Draco," she added into his ear." You were afraid. Your hand was being forced, and yet you had the courage to _not_ kill Dumbledore. _You_ should be proud of yourself for doing that." Draco sobbed into her shoulder, releasing all of the fear, anger, and guilt for everything that he had been forced to do in the past couple of years. They stood in that corridor, Aelita holding onto her younger brother for as long as he needed.

* * *

"Hermione," Ron complained in the Common Room that evening, "remind me again why we had to come back here just to leave tomorrow." Harry took his eyes off of the teacup that Kreacher had brought him and looked at the pair seated on the couch.

Without looking up from her book, she said, "Because, Ron, we needed to get our luggage…" Hermione trailed off and mumbled the last part.

"What was that?" Ron asked with a smirk.

"Or something," Hermione muttered a little louder. Noticing the looks from Harry and Ron, she huffed, "Okay! So maybe in my excitement of getting virtualized yesterday, I forgot about the idea of just going to the Burrow afterwards."

"Ron, write down today's date," Harry said quickly with a grin. "You'll want to remember when Hermione forgot to plan ahead." Ron laughed. Hermione narrowed her eyes at both of them but managed to give a small smile. Ron playfully poked her in the side. She flinched and swatted his hand away.

"So what was it like, being virtualized, I mean?" Ron asked eagerly. He placed an arm around her affectionately.

"It was definitely a unique experience," Hermione answered, leaning into him. "The most interesting part was the fact that I was able to use magic when I was virtualized."

"Why is that noteworthy?" Harry asked.

"I left my wand with Jeremie before I stepped into the scanner," Hermione quickly explained. She then added, "After repairing the third scanner for over an hour." She looked at Harry with a pointed expression.

He held his hands up, saying, "It's not _my_ fault that the Elder Wand came to my rescue and blasted William through the _Hring_ and the scanner."

"I don't recall it showing up until you started to _lose_ to William," Ron added with a smirk.

"Anyway, so you didn't have your wand in the scanner with you?" Harry said, quickly bringing the subject back to virtualization.

Hermione nodded. "The only explanation that Jeremie could come up with was that the Supercomputer recognized that I was a witch. My assumption is that it is similar to how Aelita never had any weapon when virtualized yet had her own powers."

"Hang on," Ron interrupted. "Are you saying that you were doing _wandless_ magic when you were virtualized?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I haven't figured out even the most basic wandless magic here, and yet you would've thought I was an expert."

"You do realize that most of us already think you're an expert, right?" Aelita asked as she approached the fire. She plopped down on the last remaining armchair across from Harry.

"Says the one who helped me most of the day figure out this weird ability that I've developed," Harry said.

"Care to give a demonstration?" Ron requested, a little more excitedly than he probably intended. Even Hermione seemed intrigued.

"Do I look like some sort of circus animal to you?" Harry demanded.

"If I said yes, would you do it?" Ron quipped back. Aelita laughed but quickly covered her mouth when Harry looked at her. She gave him an encouraging look.

Harry sighed and set the teacup on the table. He stared at it and focused on moving the teacup. He held out his palm at it. There was a quick flash of golden light. The teacup was covered in tiny golden flames, almost looking like a mist. Ron and Hermione's eyes widened with interest. Harry raised his hand, and the ball of mist containing the teacup followed. The ball began to flicker slightly, and he stopped moving. At the same time, Aelita slowly held out her own palm at the table. A square of rock materialized on the table. A column rose out of the rock and stopped right underneath the ball of mist. The golden flames and mist faded away with the teacup resting nicely on top of the rock column. Harry and Aelita lowered their hands.

"I guess I've still got some work to do," Harry admitted.

"That's still damn impressive, mate," Ron said with an impressed smile.

Hermione looked at Aelita and asked, "How did you know you could do your Energy Fields and Creation power outside of the Supercomputer?"

"It was honestly an accident, really. And I didn't even figure it out until the end of the summer," Aelita answered. "Harry, do you remember at King's Cross that there was just a man and I on the platform?" Harry nodded. "That man was X.A.N.A. himself. That wasn't a specter. It _was_ him. He was absolutely furious that I was in London. I feared for my life more than any other time X.A.N.A.'s specters had gone after me."

"How come?" Ron asked.

"All of the other times, X.A.N.A.'s goal was to virtualize me onto Lyoko for whatever he needed. That wasn't an option in London. I was afraid that he was going to try to kill me. Next thing I know, I accidentally make an Energy Field protecting myself. That was when I figured out that I could do it outside of Lyoko. The rest was a guess. If I could make Energy Fields, why couldn't I do the other stuff? It wasn't until Ulrich and Yumi had tried and failed to use their powers that I surmised it was because I was a witch."

"So does this mean Taelia is a witch, too?" Harry asked.

"One would assume so, yes. But Taelia has made it adamantly clear that she has no desire to learn magic, which is fine by me." There was a silent pause as they sat listening to the crackling fire.

"Well, your experience with 'wandless magic powers' is helpful," Harry said gratefully, staring at his own hands. "Now I just want to know _why_ I can do it."

"Trust me, you're still at the point that you should be focusing on _how_ ," Aelita said. "The _why_ will come later."

Harry nodded his agreement. "Fair point."

"Have you thought at all about my mum's offer, Aelita?" Ron asked with a slight smile.

"I have," Aelita replied. "And you're sure your family doesn't blame me for Ginny?"

"Absolutely not!" Ron replied emphatically, his face serious. He had stopped smiling. Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry gave her a look so Ron could continue. "Look, it wasn't your fault. It was X.A.N.A.'s. I blame him for it and so do my parents. In the unlikely scenario that you get any grief from my family, let me handle it. Ginny was brave and died doing what she believed was the right thing." He breathed a heavy sigh. "You have nothing to feel blame for in regards to her death, okay?" Aelita could not have given Ron a hug any faster. "So you coming with us, or not, Schaeffer?"

Aelita pulled away and said, "I can't speak for the other two, but I, for one, will join your family for the holidays." Ron grinned.

* * *

The streets of Yu Dao were buzzing with excitement. The summit of world leaders to discuss what to do with the Fire Nation colonies was happening today. These colonies, sitting upon land that the Earth Kingdom had lost during the Hundred Year War, wished to be something separate from both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. Recently, after a skirmish between the two nations, it was determined, with Avatar Aang's guidance, that the colonies were meant to stay.

A young boy cried out with glee suddenly, pointing up at the clouds. The nearby pedestrians looked to where he pointed. A large Fire Nation airship glided out of the clouds. At the same time, a convoy of Earth Kingdom transport vehicles emerged over a nearby hillside. A growling from overhead signaled the arrival of the Avatar's flying Sky Bison, Appa. The white animal landed just outside the city gates, as did the Fire Nation airship. The Yu Dao gates opened, and in ushered the current world leaders: Earth King Kuei, Water Tribe Chief Arnook, Fire Lord Zuko, and the young and great Avatar Aang. The people cheered upon their arrival. The leaders smiled and waved at the crowd.

"I had no idea that this summit would be such a popular idea with people," Katara, the Avatar's girlfriend, said quietly to Aang and Zuko.

"The last hawk I received from the mayor of Yu Dao said that he and his family were ecstatic about this," Zuko replied. "We're changing the world in a way that hasn't been done before. I'm not surprised that their excitement spread." He looked over the crowd with a smile. His eyes glanced over a young girl. He quickly glanced back, thinking her hair was pink. Upon closer inspection, he was clearly wrong. It was an old woman with gray hair. Zuko shook his head slightly and furrowed his brow. Aang noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it," he told his friend. "It's nothing." But in the back of Zuko's mind as Aang turned away, it was anything but. His dreams about the family in the snowy mountains had not yet abated, but he could never remember the details once he woke up. The only thing he could remember was there was a girl with pink hair in the dream. He shook his head. He needed to focus on this summit, not on the dreams that plagued his sleep.

* * *

Aelita stared out the window as the Hogwarts Express raced through the snowy countryside. They were about an hour or so out from London. She kept trying to spot the mountains that surrounded Hogwarts with little to no success. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Draco looked at her with a smile in the seat next to her.

"Normally I could ask you about how it feels to leave Hogwarts for the first time since arriving here," he told her. "But I suppose it doesn't quite work in this instance."

"Not really, no," Aelita replied, smiling. "It's still a little unnerving to know that I won't be going back for at least a couple of weeks. It will be nice to actually go somewhere for the holidays versus staying at home though."

"Yeah, I suppose," Draco said, his smile fading.

"Sorry for bringing that up," Aelita quickly added, recognizing his discomfort at that scenario. She ran a hand through his thick black hair, something she remembered doing to calm him down when they were little. Draco smiled again, his hazel eyes twinkling. They both glanced across at Hermione, who was looking at Draco apprehensively. Both he and Aelita raised a questioning eyebrow.

Hermione asked Draco pointedly, "How are your parents going to handle your _noticeable_ differences?"

"I completely forgot about that!" Draco said, a little panicky. "What am I going to do?!"

"Relax!" Hermione told him quickly. "I had already thought of a solution and was just waiting for your permission." Pulling out her wand, she twirled it around his head. His black hair began to fade to blonde, and his eyes turned back to grey. "There. Now you look like Draco Malfoy instead of Draco Schaeffer. It should hold off any important conversations until later and, more importantly, in private." Draco nodded his head in appreciation.

"Before we get there, I wanted to give you this," Aelita said, pulling out a plain-looking cellphone. "Mine, Taelia's, and the factory's phone numbers are already programmed into it. Use this in case you need to get a hold of one of us in an emergency."

"Thanks, sis," Draco said gratefully, hugging Aelita close.

An hour later, the train rolled into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross Station. Aelita waved to the Weasley's as the train slowed to a stop. She stopped in surprise when she saw Taelia standing next to George, also waving at her. Aelita could not leave the car quicker. She ran out to Taelia and gave her a hug.

"How–?" Aelita began to ask.

"George came and got me," Taelia explained. "My stuff is already at their house. I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to spend the holidays with my sister, in _England_ no less."

"It appears that someone has seemingly taken notice of your presence here," Ron said abruptly, walking up to the pair and looking further down the platform. Aelita discreetly glanced in the indicated direction and saw Draco walking up to the Malfoy's. While Mrs. Malfoy embraced Draco in a tight hug, it was hard to miss Mr. Malfoy casting frequent glances in their direction. Aelita couldn't tell if it was out of suspicion or nervousness. Either way, Aelita wasn't a fan of it. Choosing to ignore it, she turned back to the others.

"I still don't quite understand why he's going off with them without you two," Harry said.

Aelita was about to answer, but Taelia interjected, "Draco wants to hold off any conversations for as long as he can. If we just join him right now, those conversations will have to happen here and now."

"It's probably for the best that you allow Draco to let you know when he is ready," Mr. Weasley said thoughtfully. "Come on. We have cars waiting for us." The group picked up their luggage and began making their way out of the station.

"Thank you again for the invitation, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," Aelita said after they all passed through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten.

"You have no idea what going somewhere away from school for the holidays means to the two of us," Taelia added.

"Oh not at all, dears," Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly at them. "Ron told us what growing up was like for you." She placed a hand onto Aelita's arm as the latter pushed her trolley. "And we most certainly don't blame you," she added softly so only Aelita could hear. Arthur Weasley nodded in agreement.

"If only you knew how relieved that makes me feel," Aelita answered softly.

"We have an idea," Mr. Weasley told her. He glanced to Harry, who was in deep conversation with George and Ron.

"We spent most of the summer helping him with thoughts similar to yours," Mrs. Weasley explained. "We can never know what is going through your mind."

"But we do understand and respect your thoughts and opinions," Mr. Weasley added. "That's why, should any of you need an ear to talk to, we will be there for you." Aelita blinked back tears and hugged Mrs. Weasley.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome, sweetie," Mrs. Weasley answered, blinking back tears of her own. "Now, let's get your luggage loaded into the cars."

* * *

The car bounced as it came off of the highway bridge onto the small road. Draco grunted but kept his eyes directed out of the window. His parents sat next to him in the back of the taxicab, quietly talking amongst themselves. They pointedly chose not to attempt any sort of conversation with him, for which he was grateful. He was dreading even remotely trying to talk to them. Even though tactfulness wasn't his strong suit, he couldn't exactly say outright, "Mother, Father, I know that you adopted me. When were you going to tell me?" However, there was one question that he needed answering.

"How much farther is our new home?" he asked, turning his eyes away from the window for the first time since getting into the car.

Narcissa Malfoy glanced briefly out the window before turning back to face him, answering, "Not too far now." Draco did not like that answer. Now was the moment he dreaded. Were they going to use this as an excuse to start talking to him?

"So how has Hogwarts been so far this year?" his father asked.

Drat. "It could be better," Draco replied. "There are still some people who do not appreciate our…er…position at the end of…er…"

"And do these people tend to be in the same House as you?" Lucius Malfoy asked in a knowing voice. Draco nodded. "Unfortunately, I'm hardly surprised. Our Ministry security detail has made it a point to open our mail from a distance before giving it to us."

"Half of the time there's nothing except letters in our mail, though!" his mother complained.

"But the other half is the reason _why_ it's done in the first place," Lucius said, clearly restating a stance from a previous argument they had.

"Has anyone visited?" Draco asked, hoping to change the subject as the car turned down a dark road covered by trees. "Or tried to visit?"

"Yaxley tried to stop me outside of the Ministry the other day. I wasn't interested in anything he had to say nor did I want anything to do with him," Lucius grumbled.

"The nerve of the man," Narcissa complained. "I was never fond of him even when we had been on the same side."

"I told him if I ever saw him again that I would turn him in," Lucius said.

"Why didn't you do so then?" Draco asked irritably.

"I was alone in a Muggle street in London, Draco. There wasn't much I could do in the moment without bringing unwanted attention to us. I made the Aurors aware that he had approached me. The Head Auror agreed with my assessment of the situation. Had I attempted to take Yaxley in the moment I saw him, there would have been a large chance that innocent people would have gotten hurt or that Muggles would witness magic. Neither of those scenarios is worth his apprehension. But our Ministry security detail has been made aware as well, in case he returns."

Draco pointedly looked back out the window at the passing trees. Something about Yaxley's appearance didn't make sense to him. Why risk being seen out in the open like that, and in London of all places?

* * *

Meanwhile, not too far away from the Malfoy's, two taxicabs headed to the Burrow. In one cab sat Ron, Mr. Weasley, Aelita, and George. Harry, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Taelia were in the other cab. Mr. Weasley had initially wanted to be with both Aelita and Taelia, but Taelia quickly claimed the final seat in the second car. It wasn't until the cars began pulling away from King's Cross that Aelita understood why: Mr. Weasley began bombarding Aelita with questions about the Muggle world. At first, the questions seemed expected enough like "How do traffic lights work?" or "What exactly is 'email'?" Then the questions became annoying.

"So describe to me again the exact function of this song thing you're talking about," Mr. Weasley requested.

Trying not to be disrespectful, Aelita answered, "The _squeaky toy_ is just simply a toy for a dog. When the toy is squeezed, it makes a squeaky noise."

"The dog makes the noise?"

"No, the toy. The toy squeaks when squeezed."

"So why does the dog chew on it?" George asked, a look of mock curiosity on his face. Arthur Weasley missed the look and considered the question a legitimate one. Aelita narrowed her eyes subtly at George, who only grinned in response.

"Dogs chew on stuff because they get bored," Aelita replied. "Chew toys aren't damaged by a dog's teeth. You wouldn't want a dog chewing on the furniture, would you?"

"I suppose not," Mr. Weasley said thoughtfully. In the brief silence that followed, Aelita shot a pleading look to Ron, who nodded curtly.

"So has any progress been made with the remaining Death Eaters, Dad?" he asked. He glanced at Aelita, who mouthed a silent yet extremely grateful "Thank you".

"Only slight progress," Mr. Weasley said. "We were supposed to get a report Nurmengard Prison yesterday, but we think it's been delayed." Mr. Weasley shrugged, but George frowned slightly. "But thanks to Aelita's warning about a month ago, the Ministry was recently able to capture a significant number of the Death Eaters that had planned to attack Hogsmeade. They're currently en route to Azkaban Prison as we speak. According to some of our intelligence gathering, that was the largest cell of Death Eaters."

"Cell?" Aelita asked.

"Ever since the fall of He-Who-Must–" Mr. Weasley began but stopped.

"Dad, he's dead for real this time," George interrupted.

"Sorry," the Weasley patriarch said. "Ever since the fall of Voldemort, the Death Eaters have splintered into several separate cells with sometimes drastically different goals. What's worse is that they have even begun fighting each other."

"How is that worse?" Ron inquired, confused.

"Innocent people, Muggle and wizard-kind alike, usually are caught in the middle. It's worse for them and for us. No cohesion makes tracking them down harder. A captured Death Eater might not truthfully know the information we need because they're not in the correct cell. At the moment, the Ministry has no way of determining just how many splinter cells there are. Plus, a couple of the Death Eater cells have even resolved to just settling down in the countryside with no Muggles around. The Ministry can't completely find these settlements due to incredibly strong and intelligently built Fidelius Charms. But since they aren't like other Death Eater cells that are going around murdering people, the Ministry has placed them on a rather low priority. Rather recently, however, there have been reports of groups of people enacting what you would call revenge tactics."

"Revenge tactics?" Aelita asked.

"Yes. These people are not Death Eaters, but their targets used to be Death Eaters. Particularly those who have been, as these people claim, 'let off easy.' They're the ones who have had the Imperious Curse used on them to carry out Voldemort's plans. Their actions weren't their own."

"Can they determine who had cast those curses?" George asked.

"Not usually," Arthur Weasley said. "Hence the violence. Typically the perpetrators are family members of victims of the Death Eaters wanting someone to blame. It doesn't help the Ministry when such violence intervenes while the Ministry attempts to take down some Death Eaters. Sadly, some Ministry officials are now in St. Mungo's Hospital in critical condition as a result of these people's pursuit for revenge."

"Then they're no better than the Death Eaters," Ron grumbled.

* * *

"Here we are, Draco," Narcissa announced happily. "Home, sweet home." The taxicab emerged from the trees, and Draco got a full view of their new house. It was rather plain, especially when compared to the old manor. The dark green bricks on the exterior of the house made it easy for it to blend into the surrounding pine trees. There was a wooden gate surrounding the yard, and the garden was a luscious array of colors. Draco had no doubt that his mother had cast certain enchantments so that the cold did not bother her plants. A small hut stood beyond the wooden fence. Several figures walked towards the gate.

"No doubt they are part of the Ministry's security detail?" Draco inquired. Lucius looked up and frowned as the car came to a stop outside of the house.

"I don't recognize any of them," he said. The driver shut the car off, got out, and closed his door. "They must be new."

Draco pulled the door handle to open it. At least, he tried to. The door wouldn't open. He attempted it a few more times. The door was locked shut.

"I can't open the door," Draco said, his concern rising. His mother attempted the same on her side but to no avail. They all glanced out at the group of people that their driver had joined. They turned to face the house. The door of the hut drifted open. Draco could just make out a man's body lying on the ground, bleeding from the various gashes on his chest.

"We need to get out of here!" Draco announced, slamming his shoulder into the door. His father brandished his new wand and pointed at one of the windows. The spell ricocheted off of the window and onto the seat cushion between him and Draco. The two of them shared a look of concern through the cloud of flying upholstery. A loud bang sounded outside of the car, and Narcissa gasped in surprise. Draco looked up. Bright orange flames began to consume the house, starting from the bottom and quickly working their way up. While his parents sat in shock, Draco took the initiative and climbed into the front seat, cellphone in hand.

* * *

Far away, the factory Supercomputer terminal began ringing. Jeremie, William, and Ben stopped talking about holiday plans, specifically how Ben was going to keep an eye on things while the others were away. Ben answered and set the speaker.

"Draco?" Ben asked. "What's up? You okay?"

"Not exactly," came Draco's urgent reply. "My parents and I are under attack. I need to get this car we've been trapped in started up and moving sooner rather than later." The three of them shared worried looks.

"Okay, Draco," William said, stepping forward as Jeremie whipped out his cell phone. "We'll alert the others. Your job is to listen to me carefully."

* * *

Aelita's phone rang loudly. Ignoring the complete look of awe on Mr. Weasley's face, she glanced at it. It was from Jeremie.

"This can't be good," Aelita muttered before putting the phone to her ear.

"Draco's in danger," Jeremie's voice came through. "He's at his new house. He and his parents are trapped in the car they rode in. We're helping him jumpstart the car, but it's a temporary solution. Hurry." Click.

"Mr. Weasley," Aelita said quickly with a concerned look on her face. "Where is the new Malfoy safe house?"

Mr. Weasley stared at her for a moment before yelling, "Driver, turn this car completely around now! And step on it!" The tires screeched on the road as the taxicab did a complete 180-degree turn before speeding along in the opposite direction. Aelita made eye contact with Taelia as they passed by the second cab. Seconds later, the second cab made the same maneuver.

"Head for that forest!" Mr. Weasley shouted.

"Where all that smoke is now coming from?" the driver asked.

"Merlin's Beard," Mr. Weasley gasped, looking at the black smoke rising over the trees. "Yes, exactly!"

"Can't we Disapparate right to them?" Ron asked.

"The enchantments on the surrounding area don't allow that," Mr. Weasley explained. "We could Disapparate to the edge of the forest, but we'd still have to get to their house on foot. It's best that we remain in here.

"Except Aelita," George said. He turned to her and rolled down his window. "Fly on ahead. You and Taelia can get there before the rest of us." Aelita nodded, activated her wings from her bracelet, unceremoniously clambered out of the car window, and flew away from the car before she could make contact with the ground. Clearly Taelia got the memo too as she soon flew out of the second car, her purple wings glowing brightly despite the sunlight.

* * *

"Bring those wires together but don't hold them there for too long," William told Draco. "The resulting spark should start the car." Draco looked up. The seven figures were still facing the fiery house.

"It better," Draco muttered. He carefully brought the exposed wires together. The engine started up instantly. The figures jumped and looked at the car before looking directly at Draco.

"Shift to R for reverse and to D for forwards. Right pedal is the gas, and left is the brake," William replied. "They're not going to fail to notice the car starting so get going now."

"No, really?" Draco asked sarcastically as the figures raised their wands. He shifted the lever to R, the ring on his hand pulsing a shimmering green color, and put the right pedal to the floor. The car lurched backwards as large balls of fire exploded from the ground where the front of the car had been. The figures began running after the car. Draco spun the wheel around. The car slammed its back end into a tree. His phone fell to the floorboard, but Draco wasn't paying attention anymore. Shifting into drive, the car sped back down the road towards the highway. Spells flew past the car. Some hit the trees overhead. Some hit the back windshield. The glass held and did not crack.

A rather powerful spell hit a massive tree limb overhead. The limb fell right towards the car. Draco tried to swerve away from it. The tree limb hit the hood of the car with such force that the back end of the car flipped over the front. Time seemed to move slowly as Draco activated his wings, grabbed his parents in the back seat, and twisted around into green smoke. The car tumbled for a long distance. The windows shattered open as the car continually hit the ground. Draco's green smoke trail raced out of the car as fast as it could. It hit the ground hard and splintered into three. Draco and his parents rolled on the ground out of the smoke.

Draco shook his head, desperate to get his senses about him again. A loud bang sounded from his left as the ground beside him exploded. He glanced up. The figures were catching up to them on broomsticks. He stumbled to his parents who were still groggily getting up. A purple spark of light shot at the now-stopped car. It exploded into flames, and several pieces of the car flew out in all directions. Another ball of fire flew at the three on the ground as several hot and sharp pieces of metal flew at them. Draco lunged forward and closed his eyes.

A crumbling sound resounded around them followed immediately by several thuds and bangs. Draco opened his eyes. A rock wall had formed around them, shielding them from the oncoming bombardment. Draco smiled at his accomplishment. The joy was short-lived, however. A blast caused a portion of the border to crumble.

"Mum, Dad," he yelled over the bangs that increased in frequency. "Run! Don't stop!"

"I'm not leaving you behind, Draco!" his mother yelled back, clutching a cut on her forehead. His father looked resolute as well, despite the gash in his left leg. There was another bang as more of the wall crumbled down. The wall wasn't going to last much longer.

"This isn't up for debate!" Draco countered loudly. He activated his wings. His parents' eyes went wide as he jumped into the air, hands clasped together. He spun around to face the attackers and thrust his hands forward. The green Energy Wave blasted out towards them, but it was only strong enough to shatter the broomsticks. Draco glanced down long enough to see his parents running towards the oncoming taxicabs, still a long way away. He looked back to the attackers briefly before deactivating his wings and drawing his wand. He somersaulted down the rock wall and sent numerous Stunners in multiple directions without really aiming that much. Two of the attackers who were still clambering up from their brooms fell back to the ground, this time unconscious.

The remaining seven attackers had, unfortunately, blocked the spells. They quickly went on the offensive. Draco pointed his wand at the ground and shot _Bombarda_. A large cloud of dust formed and made it impossible to see properly. Numerous curses flew wildly at and around Draco. He spun about, twirling his wand this way and that to block as many of them as he could. One attacker saw through the dust cloud and ran forward. He sent numerous spell blasts in Draco's direction that almost barreled through his Shield Charms. Draco moved his arms to send another Energy Wave when another attacker's spell knocked him backwards several feet, causing him to drop his wand.

The closest attacker, a short man with messy brown hair, stood above him and said with a grin, "Say hello to your _Dark_ _Lord_ for us." The dust began to settle, and the man gestured for the others to go after Draco's parents. He raised his wand and opened his mouth.

A flash of pink crossed Draco's vision, and the man flew sideways from the impact. He hit the ground unconscious as Aelita retracted her foot. To Draco's right, ice formed on the ground underneath some of the attackers. They struggled to retain their footing. At the same time, Taelia twirled out of her purple smoke trail and, with wings still activated, stuck out her arms parallel to the ground. She flew low and knocked the attackers to the ground as she flew past. Aelita helped Draco up and handed him his wand before turning to face the rest of the attackers.

The two taxicabs screeched to a halt as the Malfoy's reached the road. The occupants all raced out. Some raced past the Malfoy's to join the skirmish. Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley raced to help the Malfoy's into the cabs. A loud _crack_ came from their left. An attacker had Disapparated from the edge of the forest to the taxicabs. The gray-haired man immediately shot a green spell at the Malfoy's.

It never hit them for Mrs. Weasley had quickly stepped in front of the Malfoy's and shot her own spell. The two spells collided and formed a ball of energy between the two wands. The man frantically tried to break the connection while Mrs. Weasley held her wand firmly. The ball of energy approached the man, causing him to become more frantic. Mrs. Weasley suddenly whipped her wand downward, causing the energy ball to hit the ground with such force that the resulting explosion knocked the man off of his feet. Hermione ran through the smoke and cast _Petrificus Totalus_ on the man, rendering him harmless.

The five remaining attackers were now being slowly overwhelmed. Harry overpowered one's Shield Charm with the Elder Wand, sending her flying backward into a nearby tree. George quickly and carefully hooked a rope around each of two attackers' wands and yanked them out of their owners' hands. Ron had the honor of stunning them. The remaining three were dueling Aelita, Taelia, and Draco. Taelia slipped and flipped around the numerous spells as she ran. Once she was within reach, she began punching the pressure points of two of the attackers. They yelled in pain and fell to the ground, dropping their wands. Aelita and Draco began bombarding the last attacker with Energy Fields. She managed to dodge and block each one of them impressively. She withdrew a rock from her pocket and threw it onto the ground. The immediate surrounding area was doused in darkness. Draco and Aelita couldn't even see each other. Draco sent out another Energy Wave. It knocked away the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder away and hit the woman attacker square in the back as she was attempting to escape the forest. Draco breathed a sigh of relief and sat on the ground in exhaustion. He craned his neck to look at the taxicabs.

"They're okay," Aelita reassured him. She looked at the still billowing smoke from within the forest. "Taelia, with me." Together, they flew off down the driveway. Draco barely saw the golden streak of the Elder Wand follow them.

After flying down the road, Aelita and Taelia landed and stared in shock at the intense flames that had consumed the entire house and the front yard. Aelita's eyes fell onto a hut. The flames were beginning to get too close to it. She ran towards it and stopped just short when she saw the dead bodies inside. Taelia attempted to join her, but Aelita held up her hand and shook her head. She placed a hand on the doorway of the hut and closed her eyes.

 _Three men were seated around a table. One woman had prepared some tea and was pouring them all a cup. The door opened, and a second woman entered with one of the female attackers in tow._

 _"Found her on the outskirts of the property," the second woman said._

 _One of the men stood and asked the attacker woman directly, "What are you doing here?" The brown-haired attacker muttered something under breath. "What was that?"_

 _"Giving the Malfoy boy a welcome home gift," the woman said louder before dropping a black rock. The entire hut was instantly dark. Cries of pain and agony suddenly filled the hut, followed swiftly by five thuds onto the floor. The door opened, and the woman ran out. As the Darkness Powder cleared, the five men and women were lying on the floor, blood flowing out of the gashes in their chests and sides._

Aelita wiped the tears from her eyes before turning to Taelia. She walked back to her sister, trying to shake the images from her mind. The fire had started to spread to the trees nearby.

"There aren't any survivors," she said quietly to her sister. "Come on. Let's try and put out this fire."

"How are we going to do that?" Taelia asked. The Elder Wand flew in front of her, as if to answer her question. "Oh." The Elder Wand hovered for a moment. Gallons of water then burst from the tip. To Aelita and Taelia's surprise, however, the water turned to steam the instant it got within a foot of the fire. The roaring of the fire seemed to get louder for a moment.

"I think we may need to –" Aelita began before what could only be described as a fire-tail whipped out at them. Aelita dove to the side as the fire-tail struck the ground she had been standing on.

"MOVE!" Aelita finished with a shout. Before she could do anything, the Elder Wand burst into golden mist and flames, which shot at the two girls. When the golden light vanished, they were back with everyone else.

"Is the fire out yet?" Draco asked, not letting the Elder Wand's magic distract him.

"Far from it," Taelia replied. "The Elder Wand tried, but the water turned to steam before it touched the flames."

"Then it seemed like the fire got angry and jetted out us," Aelita continued.

"Fiendfyre," Hermione gasped. "These morons used Fiendfyre!" The Malfoy's looked equally horrified and heartbroken. There went another home.

"Why the devil would you unleash Fiendfyre?" George asked the rounded-up attackers. The attackers looked at each other, as if unsure as to whether or not they should answer.

"What? _Now_ you're shy?" Harry asked incredulously. "Answer her!"

"The man who knew how to control it was still inside the house when something had exploded," one man confessed. "He was going to unleash it in the basement while the Death Eaters came home. He was supposed to keep it contained down there until it was safe for him to leave the house. We didn't expect the explosion; it was probably a trap that _they_ had left behind intending on killing intruders." He scowled at the Malfoy's. Mrs. Weasley gave the man a deep, menacing scowl before continuing to tend to Mr. Malfoy's leg. Hermione kept trying to stop Mrs. Malfoy's forehead from bleeding.

"The basement?!" Aelita asked warily.

"The house used to be owned by Muggles, correct?" Hermione asked Mrs. Malfoy, who nodded.

"It wasn't a trap!" Taelia criticized the man. "It was a tank full of natural gas, for God's sake! You set it on fire, and, surprise, surprise, it explodes!"

"Look!" Ron shouted and pointed back at the trees. Fire was raging along the driveway at a rapid pace.

"We can't let the fire spread," Mr. Weasley announced, quickly taking charge. "We must contain it. Any ideas?"

"There's one option," Harry said. "But it means the house and the forest would be obliterated." He looked to the Malfoy's with sympathy. A loud roar suddenly resounded through the trees. Fire, shaped like a dragon, flew up into the sky and jumped from tree to tree. The fire began to spread even more rapidly.

"Aelita, come on! We might not be able to put it out, but perhaps we can slow it down." Taelia shouted. She immediately took off into the air with Aelita closely behind. The two of them created giant ice spikes and began throwing them at the fire-dragon. The spikes made holes in the fire before melting and evaporating away. The fire-dragon got smaller and angrier at each successful spike. The girls flew around, distracting the fire-dragon from attempting to fly away and set something else on fire. A second fire-dragon conglomerated along the driveway, unnoticed by the rest of the group as they watched the sisters. It reared back and shot a ball of fire at them. Draco glanced back to the trees at the sound. His eyes widened in panic when he realized he was the only one who saw the fireball with seconds before it hit.

 _"Don't just stand there. Do something!"_ a voice in Draco's head told him. Doing the first thing he thought of, he thrust his open palms forward. Instead of an Energy Wave, green fire jetted out of his hands at the ball of Fiendfyre.


End file.
